A dentist failed to mention to his Coventry patient that the bone implant treatment he was about to carry out was experimental and unlicensed, a hearing was told.

The General Dental Council is investigating Mende Slabbert, of Wordsworth Drive, Kenil-worth, over a number of allegations relating to serious professional misconduct.

A disciplinary hearing has already started at the General Dental Council's London base, but has been temporarily adjourned to a date to be decided in the next few weeks.

Registered private dentist Slabbert, who operated at 274 Henley Road, qualified with a BChD from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

The allegations relate to treat-ment given between August 1998 and October 2000 to Geraldine Verdon, who at the time lived in Fretton Close, Paradise, Coventry.

She made a complaint after treatment went wrong and left her in pain.

Mrs Verdon was referred by Slabbert to The Tatum Institute in Northampton for private treatment where he, along with two other dentists, performed several "experimental" treat-ments, including a six-hour bone augmentation operation.

According to the GDC, Slabbert did not have "sufficient knowledge and skill" to provide the proposed bone grafts and implants.

It is alleged that he had a commercial interest in the treat-ment, that Mrs Verdon's consent was not given for the treatment, and that she was not told the Tatum Institute was a training school or that a large group of students would be watching.

She was given no indication of the products to be used, alternative options, the risks of failure or that the treatment would be filmed.

A copy of the allegations being investigated reads: "You (Slabbert) should have referred Mrs Verdon to a suitably qualified practitioner for the provision of bone grafts and implants. You were unaware how the biomaterials used... would perform clinically, or over what period they would resorb.

"You were not in a position to judge the likely outcome of the treatment and your attempts at bone augmentation were unsuccessful. You did not act in Mrs Verdon's best interests."

Neither Slabbert, or any of the other dentists, are understood to have had professional insurance for carrying out the procedure.